I'm just getting off of orientation at a new facility, and had a couple questions for you guys!
Since there are several of us getting off of orientation at the same time, we will be over staffed. Our manager stated that if we are canceled, it will be mandatory. Cancellations go by seniority, so theoretically we could be canceled several times in one week since we are lowest in seniority. It also goes by who was last canceled, but that is secondary to seniority. So, say someone with a years seniority hasn't been canceled in months, I will still get canceled first even if I was canceled yesterday due to seniority. Other factors do get consideration, such as PT/FT status, etc..however there are 3-4 (5-6 some days) extra of us on some days in the coming weeks.
Am I wrong to think that this shouldn't be mandatory? At the last job, we had a right to refuse. If I'm canceled for say more than 20 hours a week for a couple weeks, I can put a claim into unemployment correct?
I have a BIG problem with this and it's one reason I'm employed as a traveler anymore.
(They don't send ME home unless they are locking up the building after EVERYONE else is gone. My hours are contracted. They can send me home but I still get paid!)
If I'm hired into a 36 or 40 hour/week position. I EXPECT to work 36-40 hours. My bills, expenses, and lifestyle depends on those hours as income. If I'm short then it sometimes means I'm gonna be hurtin' when it comes time to pay bills.
Next beef is that they force you to take hours out of your vacation time to fill the hours called off. Nope!, No Way! Not happening! That is my VACATION time and I will not sacrifice my vacation later because your census is low.
They budgeted the FTE's. I USE 'EM! Even while I was charge there was pressure to send people home. I wouldn't do it. I asked for volunteers first and then that was it. No one wanted to leave, so be it. Not my problem.
I'm not a slave to the cost-cutting measures that short the staff nurse wages and vacation time to justify huge bonuses to the corporate yahoos at the end of the year.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
When I was management at one facility that was Union there were no mandatory cancellations of RN's. If they refused we would the cancel CNA's, Unit Secretaries, transporters. In a non union facility we took the most expensive first which at the time meant "bonus shifts" (unless a traveler that was guaranteed hours whether they worked or not by contract) or OT.
We then would go by requests, then someone on an extra shift even if not OT to try to make sure everyone at least got their hours, and then we would go by turns and how many hours total canceled by pay period and then by total mandated cancel hours. To total hours worked and canceled per pay period in an attempt to be fair. I would belabor over this endlessly. I developed a program for the supervisors and staffing personnel that kept track.....IF they took the time to use it. Considerations were made according to needing experience or EKG/ACLS certified if ICU or telemetry as we would not leave 3 new grads together to run the floor. Some places take great care in making cancel fair and I will tell you I would still get my butt chewed out by outraged husbands and staff.
No one likes their lively hood and their wallets messed with but these days it's a necessary evil. As to whether you can get unemployment would depend soleyon your states UE benefits.
Each hospital is different, depends on whether you are union or not sometimes and unit preferences.
We have a book we keep dates in, when you get cancelled it goes in the book and people are cancelled according to the dates, the one with the oldest date is offered a cancellation and goes down the list to the newest date. If no one wants it then we cancel by seniority, but there is pretty much always someone that wants cancelled. So at least it isn't always the newest being cancelled. Also, FT or PT doesn't matter.
I work in a small, pediatric department and we are often low censused in the summer. We only staff two RNs and usually we both agree to each work six hours while the other is on-call in case of an admission. It is pretty fair this way and there usually isn't an issue deciding who will work the first half vs second half. Would that be an option?
They should have explained the cancelation policy to you before they hired you. That way you could have decided whether you wanted to take a chance working there.
Unfortunately with the economy the way it is every one is taking a big hit. Census is way down everywhere and all the nurses I know both personally and online are getting cancelled on a regular basis.
My next door neighbor is an ICU nurse of 15 years at a large hospital and he gets canceled one day almost every week.
This is the reality of nursing these days.
I have worked ER for 7 years and they used to keep a set number of nurses in the unit every shift just in case we got hit with a lot of patients. But since 2009 they put us on call and don't let us come in till it gets busy.
We deal with this by taking part time jobs at several other places in hopes of accruing 40 hours between multiple locations.
Not so easy. Agency work has almost completely dried up. I have only gotten 2 agency days the whole month of November so far.
You can try applying for unemployment for the days you don't get to work, but the reality is that when I tried that they told me I already made as much in the 2 days I worked that I wouldn't qualify for anything more. In other words my take home for 2 days was 700 dollars and unemployment would have only payed 450.00, so I don't qualify.
It's bad out there and no one I know believes the recession (I say depression) is over, so we all just gotta say our prayers and do the best we can.
EmergencyNrse
632 Posts
I have a BIG problem with this and it's one reason I'm employed as a traveler anymore.
(They don't send ME home unless they are locking up the building after EVERYONE else is gone. My hours are contracted. They can send me home but I still get paid!)
If I'm hired into a 36 or 40 hour/week position. I EXPECT to work 36-40 hours. My bills, expenses, and lifestyle depends on those hours as income. If I'm short then it sometimes means I'm gonna be hurtin' when it comes time to pay bills.
Next beef is that they force you to take hours out of your vacation time to fill the hours called off. Nope!, No Way! Not happening! That is my VACATION time and I will not sacrifice my vacation later because your census is low.
They budgeted the FTE's. I USE 'EM! Even while I was charge there was pressure to send people home. I wouldn't do it. I asked for volunteers first and then that was it. No one wanted to leave, so be it. Not my problem.
I'm not a slave to the cost-cutting measures that short the staff nurse wages and vacation time to justify huge bonuses to the corporate yahoos at the end of the year.
Rant off...